A Thousand Stories in a Thousand Works: Photography of Labor Recording the Contemporary Labor Life

A Thousand Stories in a Thousand Works: Photography of Labor Recording the Contemporary Labor Life

News From：Department of Planning Division 4

Date：2009-07-10

For the different appearances of labor in Taiwan to be to be completely presented on camera as a record of contemporary labor life, the Council of Labor Affairs co-held the Let’s Change Society with Pictures competition, with the Taiwan Women’s Film Association for laborers. The three themes included: respect for laborers and seniors, serious women are the most beautiful and thanks for your contribution—foreign laborers. The review was completed on June 11. The top 3, 30 excellent works and 60 fine works of each theme were selected from over 1,000 pictures. In general division, 50 works were selected from 214 pictures. All award-winning pictures were displayed at Taipei Stock from the 23rd to the 28th of June. At 10 a.m. on the 29th, Minister Wang Jushuan personally awarded the prizes at the Taipei Arts Village. The Labor Image Symposium was also held. The minister, evaluators, and award-winners gave a deconstruction of the works, shared the stories of pictures and discussed the rights of laborers.

One can see blue collar workers, workers climbing electric posts, laborers in construction sites, professionalism in work, handiwork, farming and housework by women in the workforce. What is rare is the wisdom of mothers conquering the heavy load with tender smiles at work. In the image of international workers, dark skinned foreign laborers working at different major construction sites and smiling during break. We can’t help showing our gratitude to these people. Also, foreign care givers have become a part in our lives. Pictures showed the human warmth in mutual trust in good communication from different countries.

From the pictures, we find that most people still associate the idea of labor with blue collar work in agriculture and industry. In fact, the diverse Taiwan boasts an energetic economy with various types of labor. If you take a close look, you will find touching images of labor around your life. We also find that a lot of laborers still lack ideas of safety at work. To be faithful to the images in pictures and respect of the free composition, the Council of Labor Affairs not only kept the pictures as they were, but also, with Labor Picture Exhibition, urged the laborers to pay attention to their rights and their own safety while working hard for the economy in Taiwan